Tag Archives: album

I decided it was time for me to review something new, so I went out and bought the newSgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – 2 CD Deluxe Edition. You can pick up various packaging for the revised/remix of the original album (1 CD, 2 CD, Deluxe, etc.), but I decided that for my own purposes all I really needed was the 2 CD set with the new mix and a CD of outtakes (I won’t be reviewing the outtakes).

In order to fully understand what Giles Martin did in his editing of the original cuts, I pulled out my Sgt. Pepper’s CD from 1987 and tried desperately to get my old 5 disc player to play the two discs in spiral mode so I could hear the old, then new version of each track…but alas, after 2 hours of wrestling with both our players, I ended up having to do it manually! UGH…time warp back to the 1980s!

Well, it didn’t take long to hear the difference! The older disc has a duller, more muted sound to it and the tracks sound very distinct as they change from speaker to speaker. The new version is an amazing mix that flows…Picture yourself in a boat on a river, With tangerine trees and marmalade skies INDEED! The music literally surrounds you and it made me sorry I was listening to it on just two speakers. My next purchase is going to be a fantastic set of headphones for just the purpose of listening to this CD. I also can’t wait to get to listening to these mind blowing, full bodied moving tunes in the six speaker sound chamber of my car. It’s so hard to describe, maybe you just have to be there! And for that reason…

I rate this album/CD 5 out of 4 Beetles! (George Martin included this time…)

Damn! I got suckered by another musician telling me how “Beatle-y” their songs are and that I should listen to their album. This time, the request came from a musician/producer in Austin, TX named Andrea Perry and her album “Four“.

Hi, I’m a Beatles freak with a new album with several very Beatles influenced songs. I’d love if you’d check it out. <snip> Tracks 4, 5, 13 and 14 are the most Beatle-y. Track 1 maybe too.

Okay Andrea, I’ll be the judge of that!

There is no doubt that there is a ‘Beatle-y’ sound to many of the songs on this album…some listed in Andre’s note to me and some are not. But, I wonder how many musicians realize that going around proclaiming their music is heavily influenced by the greatest band in the world opens them up to having the entire album put under the microscope by none other than the very neurotic, anally retentive, OCD Beatles fans? And do you really want to open yourself up to that? I guess so…

The violins and cellos on the first song ‘My Lover Said’ are what trigger the Beatles-effect right from the get go and this song sets the tone for the album and I think it’s a more Beatles-esques song than – ‘Back Before There Was You’ or ‘While Spinning’.

Now, how does this album stand on its own away from it’s Fab Four fan influence? Not bad…but there was a song or two where I would have liked to have heard more layered vocals or harmonies because the lyrics seemed to become background noise to the instrumentals. And though Andrea says that track 5 – ‘While Spinning’ is Beatle-y, it sounds a lot like track 6 – ‘Where Have You Been’. There was also a part of me waiting for this album to climax and I didn’t feel like it quite did that until about track 13 -‘Welcome Home’.

But don’t take my word for it, head over to Andrea Perry‘s website and listen to it for free. If you like what you hear, the album is only $7 to download!

I’m not going to rate this album because I just don’t think it would be fair. Yes…heavy Beatles influence. Yes…the album can stand alone, but has it’s issues. How would you rate it?